Personality Disorders Support Group

Personality disorders form a class of mental disorders that are characterized by long-lasting rigid patterns of thought and behaviour. Personality disorders are seen by the American Psychiatric Association as an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the culture of the individual who exhibits it.

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ponygirl74 02/20/2009

I was told by a pro psy nurse that only people with multipul(sp) personiolity dissorder(or now known as dissotive personility dissorder) dissoite. The web as absolutly no good info on this. I have the BPD survival guide book and it say's we can. So I'm very confused. I gey 'floty' feelings sometimes and when I was young i meantall checked out for several houres and had no clue what I was doing during those times. I stated out reeading a book or listing to music but could not remember what songs or what chaptores I read. In fact huge houres of time were compleatly blanked out as if I was sleeping. I did have milder epesodes while I was in school starting a class and blanking out but I took notes while I was doing so. Most of the time I did those sever eposodes I was in my room so if my personility changed during those times I would not know. I don't have much of the full senceory blankout but a weard floty feeling were my mind doesn't conncect with my body. Example: I know I'm breathing when Im going to sleep but I can't feel myself do it, or if I'm awake I can't feel myself walk or touch things. If it's not dissociation what is it. When I come to from these eposodes it unnerves me. I'm afraid that I might go back to my self harming behavers if they contune. I haven't cut myself in over a year and don't want to. I hardly have thoughts of self harm much and I'd like to keep it that way.So please help me understand or share youre experance. It's scary for me

TwilightStar 02/20/2009

It is a symptom of BPD to have some dissociation. I dont necessarily get the amnesia of it as you have said, but I do have many marked experiences of that "floaty" feeling where to me things just arent real. I feel like I am in a surreal reality where its almost like a salvador dali painting but without the hallucination that would have to occur for that to be entirely true. Its like I know what is around me must be true but it just doesnt seem like reality.

A good coping skill to do is when you begin to get that floaty feeling to snap a rubber band on your arm [not incredibly hard] especially if you have a history of cutting like me and you have.

deleted_user 02/21/2009

I have had expierecence of watching myself doing something like i am outside of my body. But i can not stop myself from doing what ever i am doing. It is really strange and also scary and thats when i tend to self harm as i cant stop myself doing it. I have also had periods where i am sat on the sofa and then noticed a pain (within what feels like only a few seconds) and i am bleeding from a cut/scratch and i dont know how it happened as to me i have been sat there the whole time and not moved. My psych doc said that you can sometimes do things then the brain dosent store the information so you are unaware you have done it. I been told its like going in one ear and straight out the other it is not processed or stored in the middle part where it normally would be. I also get alot of episoides where i notice things about what i am doing seem familar as if i have done them before, but i am never sure if i have or not. I also have amensia epsoides when i am under severe stress i used to get them alot at work, would go in and then leave 8 hrs later with no recoglection of what i had done in that time.

deleted_user 02/21/2009

I don't feel all "floaty" before I dissociate-I feel heavy, and like I'm falling backwards. I don't usually remember what I do-I have to rely on my boyfriend, who is always there. I kick, scream, cry, bite, fight him, and otherwise am not myself. I've "woken" on the side of the tub scratching my arms and legs with a razor. I've tried to jump off our 3rd story catwalk onto asphalt parking lot below. Without my Randy I would be dead by now.

tyzz27 02/22/2009

Yes people with BPD can definitely disociate. It is important to realiuze and understand that disociation can occur on a spectrum and therefore there is no reason why people with BPD cant dosiciate. Im hoping that apart from this info your psych is good in many other ways. The form of discoaition that occurs with DID is at the top end of the sp[ectrum anbd trust me as someone with DID it can be quite daunting, but feeling flighty or hav ing that out of body experience is just as daunting in my humble opinion

deleted_user 02/22/2009

I do dissociate, usually during times of stress. I don't get the "floaty" feeling that you described, instead I feel like I kind of step back into myself and the other half of me takes over and goes through the motions of life until I can "snap" back into things. Then there are other times where I am going through life it just doesn't seem like the world isn't real, more like a movie. Actually as just a side note, I think dissociation might be a one of the criteria for BPD.

deleted_user 02/23/2009

I feel like a robot when I dissociate. I feel like I am doing activities throughout the day - but not really present.

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